The Portal of Wonderland

Shi Mu returned to his house outside the cavern. He swept his gaze around, and his eyes fell on a black stone room at the edge of the house.

He stimulated the Real Qi in his body, and pounded his fist in the void. And, a fist-shadow that was curled up in a blazing red flame got condensed in the air out of nowhere the next moment. Then, it bombarded on that stone room while carrying a luminous and scorching wave.

A loud “Bang” sound echoed.

Fragments of stone scattered. And, a big hole which was a few feet in size burst open in a wall of the room. In fact, this hole was so deep that the opposite side of the wall had also been pierced through.

Shi Mu’s heart brimmed with exultation. His strength had made a phenomenal progress ever since he had stepped into the Xian Tian advanced stage. His fist had made a hole through the wall even though he had casually stimulated his Real Qi and released it out of his body through his fist. This indicated that his fist had become as solid as iron. In fact, it now had the ability to pierce through a one-foot-thick stone wall.

However, his brows snapped into a frown, and he closed his eyes to sense something.

He opened his eyes after a moment, and waved his sleeves while reading an incantation.

A series of red lights flashed in front of his body. It was a group of six fireballs which had just darted out of his body; each one was the size of a washbasin. They dashed forward, and bombarded the stone room like a meteor.

A burst of intense rumbling sound rang out along with scalding flame and light.

The stone room revealed a violent vibration in response. Then, an expansive layer of stone fragments curled up in blazing flames scattered in all directions. The stone room was left with myriads of holes in an instant. It could stay firm for only a few seconds, and eventually collapsed with a loud rumble.

A gleam of satisfaction flashed through Shi Mu’s face as he saw this situation.

He noticed that the strength of his magic power hadn’t improved by a lot. However, the might of his fireball technique had marked a substantial growth from before. Shi Mu made a careful investigation, and found the reason for this attainment. He found that his fire-element induction strength had increased by leaps and bounds along with his breakthrough to the ninth stage of the Book of Flaming Red Ape. He had now almost attained six degrees in the fire element-induction force. And, this degree was far stronger than his spatial element-induction force.

He could now distinctly sense the fire-attribute element contained in the air if only he closed his eyes. In addition, he could now freely mobilize these elements, and launch Real Qi or magic power attacks as well.

The reason why Shi Mu had been able to make such an astonishing attainment was the fire-attribute Peach King. It could be said that the Peach King had a major contribution to his success. No wonder the formidable Earth-rank powerhouses were battling against each other in order to obtain this fruit.

“Shi Tou, your strength seems to have made an unimaginable progress after your breakthrough,” Cai flew over from afar at this moment.

Cai had been idle during the period of Shi Mu’s seclusion practice. So, he had come forward of his own accord, and said that he would be on the lookout for Shi Mu. He had obviously done so because he was getting bored.

“What is the situation outside the city now?” Shi Mu asked.

“It is reported that Ao Kui hasn’t shown up for a while. However, those demon beasts are still wandering around in the vicinity,” Cai said.

Shi Mu nodded. He then turned around and walked toward the underground cave. Cai also followed him.

Shi Mu was in the Fire-Filled Array after some time. He looked around, and couldn’t help exposing a wry smile.

He had already replaced the fire-attribute spirit stones in the array a number of times during this period of his seclusion practice. And, the last batch of the spirit stones had also been consumed to a great extent by now. Therefore, their radiance had dimmed a lot.

Shi Mu had no other choice but to buy some more fire-attribute spirit stones if he wanted to stay in this city for a while. Only then could he use this array to strengthen his realm a bit more during his stay here.

Therefore, earning spirit stones had now become a matter of vital importance to him.

Shi Mu checked the things in his Vast Earth Ring so that he could use them in exchange for the spirit stones that he needed. He found a few magic tools and spirit tools in the ring. He had obtained them from his opponents during his previous battles. In addition, there were also a few spirit grasses, efficacious pills, and ores in the ring.

He realized that the stuff in his storage ring might not be able to make a good sum of money… This was obviously excluding the few spirit tools contained therein.

After all, those spirit tools were things that could enhance his strength. So, he was reluctant to sell them in a casual manner.

Shi Mu’s eyes suddenly flashed as they fell on a huge stack of hide in a certain corner of the ring.

It seemed that he was left with no choice but to continue with his old profession for now.

Shi Mu knew that it wasn’t a difficult task for him to draw a few magic charms. However, this place couldn’t be considered the same as the Eastern continent. Therefore, he decided to go to the city, and inquire about this matter first. He might get a general understanding of the situation here in this way.

Shi Mu stood up and walked outside as this thought flashed across his mind.

“Is Shi Tou going out somewhere again?” Cai asked.

“Hmm, there is something I need to take care of.”

Shi Mu said. Then, he walked out of his residence with quick steps, and soon arrived at the shopping street in the city. He then started to walk in and out of the shops in the following time.

This process continued until the fall of dusk. Then, he walked out of the street, and headed toward his residence which was situated in the northern side of the city.

There were already plenty of hide magic papers in his Vast Earth Ring. There were also some other materials in the ring that were needed for drawing high-ranked magic charms.

Shi Mu had gotten a little understanding of the magic charms that were in high demand in the Western Continent. He had gained this information via his visits to various local shops along with his intentional or unintentional interaction with people.

The wars between the Demon Race and the Barbarian Race were relatively frequent in the Western Continent. And, the magic charms were very effective during an enemy confrontation. In addition, they often exhibited a life-saving effect at times of significance. Therefore, the demand for magic charms wasn’t small here.

Shi Mu also found that the situation here was exactly the same as he had previously anticipated. There were indeed a limited number of charm magicians in the barbarian race in comparison to the exuberant needs of the magic charms. Furthermore, the barbarian people who were proficient in this field were very few, and in an extremely miserable state. Therefore, they charged a considerably high price for the magic charms if they ever drew one.

But, this kind of situation had somewhat changed after the emergence of the Western Dark Moon Cult. The Dark Moon Cult’s magicians were mainly Soul magician. So, the number of people who were adept at making magic charms was also considerably higher than the barbarians’. The fact was that the greater part of the magic charm business in each big barbarian tribe of the Western Continent was handled by the Western Dark Moon Cult these days. Moreover, the supply and price of magic charms in the Western Continent was also regulated by the Western Cult to a certain degree.

Even so, the supply of low and middle-ranked magic charms was dominant in the market here. And, their price was almost ten times higher than that in Eastern Continent. As for high-ranked magic charms… they were often considered invaluable. In fact, the big barbarian tribes would vie with each other to purchase them as soon as they would appear in the market.

Shi Mu’s face revealed a gleam of excitement as this thought crossed his mind.

The situation outside the city was very complicated. And, a long time had already passed like this. This meant that a lot of people would be dying to go outside the city. And, the demand for magic charms would significantly increase in light of this. All he needed to do now was to refine some middle and high-ranked magic charms, and earn plenty of spirit stones in-exchange. This would certainly help him in maintaining his Fire-Filled Array for the next few days.

Shi Mu passed by an intersection… only to find a large crowd of people in front of him.

His eyes flashed as he noticed that this was the place where the City Lord’s Office used to issue announcements. And, the gathering of so many people allowed him to conclude that something must’ve happened here.

He thought for a moment in an indecisive manner. Then, he walked over, and blended in with the crowd.

A notice had been posted on the notice board once again. Shi Mu’s complexion slightly changed when he saw the notice.

It was clearly mentioned in this notice that the person who would hunt and kill the murderer of the Red-ring Demon Python would be offered a reward.

“Shi Tou…” Cai cast an anxious look at Shi Mu once. But, all he saw was a calm and composed expression on Shi Mu’s face. It seemed as if this news hadn’t had the slightest effect on him.

Shi Mu mixed in the crowd, and listened to the discussion of surrounding people for some time.

Dragon General Kui’s siege had already extended for over a month. So, it had greatly affected the operation of various matters in the city. Therefore, the City Lord You Can couldn’t sit still any further. He had eventually decided to seize the culprit, and quell this matter as soon as possible.

Shi Mu looked at the notice board for a while. Then, he turned around, and walked away from the crowd. He headed straight toward his dwelling place.

… …

Five days later… in a certain room of his house…

Shi Mu looked at the pile of magic charms on the table with an exhausted look on his face. And, a trace of excitement flashed through his face.

He had drawn middle-ranked magic charms all day and night over the past few days. And, the outcome of five days of exhaustive work was a pile of forty-or-more middle-ranked magic charms in front of him.

Some of these magic charms were Golden Star Charm, Fire Spear Charm, Catching Vine Charm, and so on. They were considered no better than ordinary middle-ranked magic charms in the Eastern Continent. However, the effect of these magic charms was several times stronger than that of those Totem magic charms in this Western Continent.

Shi Mu received all the magic charms, and walked out of his house once again.

He returned to the cave after half-a-day. He had sold all those magic charms in the market.

He had earned around three-or-four-thousand spirit stones after excluding some drawing materials and other related costs. This was obviously not a decent earning. But, he would be able to earn at least twenty-thousand spirit stones if he continued this for an entire month.

Shi Mu hadn’t chosen the Heavenly Wu Gems Pavilion to sell his magic charms since he knew that the Chamber of Commerce held a very powerful position. His subconscious mind had made him realize that he shouldn’t provoke them. After all, he shouldn’t let the opposite party know too many secrets of his life.

Therefore, he chose an ordinary shop to sell his magic charms. He had already visited this shop before when he had been inquiring about the Rising to the Heavens Mountain Peak.

The owner of this shop had thick eyebrows. He was named Ai La Mu. The fact was that he had engraved a very favorable impression of himself in Shi Mu’s mind at that time.

Shi Mu had reached a consensus with the opposite party at that time. They had decided that Shi Mu would sell magic charms here whenever he would draw. However, the opposite party must keep this matter confidential for Shi Mu’s sake. In addition, Ai La Mu would also have to collect fire-attribute spirit stones along with the various kinds of materials needed to draw magic charms.

It was just a trivial matter to Ai La Mu to collect materials for drawing magic charms. As for keeping this matter a secret… he was even more earnest to hide this matter from others. It was because he knew that his chances of earning spirit stones would be adversely affected if other shops came to know about Shi Mu being a Charm magician.

… …

A month later…

Shi Mu stood in front of the stone table in his stone room. He took a deep breath, and exhaled it in a slow manner.

Afterwards, he took a fine hide charm paper from the side, and placed it in front of him.

Shi Mu had spent a large sum of money to purchase this high-grade hide magic paper. And, his intention was to draw high-ranked magic charms this time.

He now had a lot of assurance that he could make high-ranked magic charms correctly after having passed through several consecutive attempts. So, he wanted to give it a shot.

He considered for a moment. Then, the magic brush lit up with bright radiance, and landed on the charm paper.

… …

Five days later…

Shi Mu’s face was smeared with exhaustion at the moment. A lot of stubble had grown on his face. But, a trace of excitement was still peeping through his exhausted face.

Ten or more magic charms could be seen on the table. And, a miraculous glow was flickering on their surface. They were high-ranked magic charms.

Eight of them were blue-colored Wind Shadow Charms, and three were brown-colored Escaping into the Ground Charms.

Shi Mu had attempted this Wind Shadow Charm sometime before. And, he had an excellent spirit eye to draw support from. Therefore, his success rate turned out very high this time. He succeeded in drawing eight copies of this magic charm.

The Escaping into the Ground Charm was also one of the five elements magic charms that were recorded in the “Charm Book on the Heaven-Trigram”. This magic charm comprised of altogether thirty-five magic characters. And, those magic characters were very complicated since they were interwoven in a circuitous manner. Shi Mu might not have succeeded in drawing this magic charm if he hadn’t possessed a pair of spirit eyes.

However, Shi Mu had still ruined almost ten sheets of hide in drawing only three copies of this magic charm.

Shi Mu kept two Wind Shadow Charms and one Escaping into the Ground Charm for his personal use. And, he handed over the remaining magic charms to Ai La Mu.

Ai La Mu looked into Shi Mu’s eyes in a manner that made it seem as if he was watching a monster when he received these eight high-ranked magic charms.

The news that Ai La Mu’s shop had high-ranked magic charms immediately spread throughout the city. And, it obviously attracted the attention of some of the strongest people in the city.

However, Ai La Mu was a shrewd man at the end of the day. So, he kept his mouth tightly zipped about Shi Mu’s whereabouts. In fact, he didn’t let the slightest information related to Shi Mu slip out of his mouth.

Three months had passed like this. Shi Mu had earned a good number of spirit stones over this period. In fact, he had collected 60,000 or 70,000 spirit stones. And, most of them were fire-attribute spirit stones. They were sufficient to maintain the Fire-Filled Array for nearly six months.

Shi Mu had also informed Ai La Mu that he would suspend drawing magic charms for a while so that he could concentrate on his cultivation.

Ai La Mu was somewhat reluctant to this notion, but he didn’t dare to offend Shi Mu… the God of Gold.